Kathmandu. Global insurance losses from natural disasters are set to exceed $100 billion again in 2025. Insurers will have to pay about $108 billion in damages out of the $224 billion total.
Weather-related disasters account for 97 per cent of insurance losses, according to Munich Rico data. Most of these insurance claims are due to forest fires, floods and severe storms.
By 2025, total damage from wildfires, floods, and high waves was about $166 billion. About $98 billion of this was insured. This was significantly higher than the long-term average.
The most costly event for insurance companies was the bushfires in the Los Angeles area in January. It insured about $40 billion of the total damages of about $53 billion. This made it the most expensive fire incident.
In the United States, insured damage from severe hurricanes was also high. Multiple storms in March caused nearly $7 billion worth of damage to insured assets. In the Caribbean, Hurricane Melissa caused approximately $3 billion worth of insured damage. About $9.8 billion of that was in Jamaica and Cuba.
Overall, insured losses in 2025 were equivalent to a 10-year inflation-adjusted average of about $107 billion. However, this is not the first time in decades that any major hurricanes have hit the US mainland.
According to Munich Ric, the figures reflect the increasing impact of secondary risks such as wildfires and severe storms on insurance companies’ damage experience. Most of the damage is in the uninsured, especially in the North American region. –Agency
